The Albino Snake
by RinsDarkMagician
Summary: Yuki finds out that Ayame is an albino snake but those snakes don't live long at all. When Ayame suddenly gets sick Yuki fears he'll never see his brother again. And how do Aaya's two best friends take it? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Ok! Here's a story created by me and my friend AnimeDreamer240! Enjoy!

Yuki turned on his computer and gave a heavy sigh. He just got back from school and his teacher gave him the worst possible assignment anyone could ask for. He had to do a report on different snakes around the world for his science class.

"Of course it had to be snakes." He mumbled to himself.

Yuki didn't want to think of Ayame when he didn't need to. He brought up a web page that had different snakes on it. It told all about what they ate, where they lived, if they were poisonous, and if so how deadly they were. His eyes formed into slits as he went down the list of snakes.

"California Mountain Snake, Garter Snake, Egyptian Asp, King Cobra, Albino Snake…. Albino Snake?" Yuki said all the names of the snakes in the site until he got to one that caught his eye. The Albino Snake. He didn't want to admit it but he was interested because Ayame was a white snake. He never once thought that the zodiac members could be species. Could Ayame have been an Albino Snake?

He clicked on the link and read the information on the page.

'The Albino Snake is a rare snake found in jungles and forests. Being albino is a deformity so these snakes don't live very long. The average lifespan is only a few years. It's becoming harder and harder to find these snakes since they are dying so rapidly. Soon they will be completely extinct.'

Yuki stopped reading and sat back in this chair. He shook his head and glanced at the screen again. Ayame was an albino snake. But he's been alive for 27 years. He's lived much longer than the average albino snake. But then does that mean that he's going to die soon?

Yuki cleared his head and took a deep, calming breath. He laughed at himself for getting so worked up over nothing. He had nothing to worry about at all. He walked down the stairs to get some water to calm his nerves. When he got to the bottom he heard some loud voices. He walked into the living room and saw Ayame sitting there with Shigure.

"Yuki! Hi! How has my little brother been?" the snake asked.

"Good. How have you been?" Yuki said a little nicer than usually.

A small cough escaped Ayame's lips. "I haven't been feeling to well. I've been a bit under the weather lately. I'll be fine though!"

Yuki's eyes grew wide as he listened to Ayame. This couldn't actually be happening. "You've been sick lately? Do you know what it may be?"

"Are you concerned for your brother? I feel so loved! Thank you, Yuki!" Ayame exclaimed.

"Don't let it get to your head." Yuki said walking away. He walked into the kitchen and leaned against the wall. He was breathing harder than he should have been. Ayame had been sick. This couldn't be good. Could this be a sign that Ayame was actually dying? Loud laughter erupted from the living room. Yuki peeked inside and saw Shigure and Ayame talking as if nothing was going on. Yuki sat at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

"Maybe nothing is wrong with Ayame. Maybe I'm just overreacting." Yuki muttered.

Yuki flinched as he heard Ayame start to cough harshly from the living room. He ran to the living room and saw Shigure help Ayame stand up. Ayame had his hand over his mouth to muffle the coughs.

"Are you ok, Ayame?" Yuki ran towards his brother and bent to get a better look at him.

Ayame just waved his hand at Yuki and took his other hand away from his mouth. "I'm fine. I just…" he went into a coughing fit again.

Shigure smiled at Ayame and helped him walk up the stairs to his bedroom with Yuki following close behind. The dog didn't say a word as he removed Ayame's outer robe and laid him on his bed. He covered him with a thick blanket and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What have you been doing to get yourself so sick? I'm calling Hatori to come and check on you." He got up and walked to the phone in the hall. Yuki tapped Shigure on the shoulder before he could dial the number.

"I think I know what's wrong with Ayame." He said quickly.

Shigure gave him an odd look and set the phone down. "What do you mean?"

He followed Yuki to his room. He motioned for the older man to read the page that was up on his computer. Shigure's eyes grew wide as he read the information on the page. When he was done he turned towards Yuki with a pale face. He shook his slightly and sat down.

"That can't be true, Yuki. I mean…I'm sure it's just a cold. Just a common cold. He's not dying." He said in a low voice.

"Maybe. I don't know. I just saw this and I thought of him. I mean, he's really sick! And he's been alive a lot longer than he should have been. Shigure…I think this may be it. I think Ayame is…." Yuki couldn't finish his sentence. He didn't realize he cared so much about his brother. He thought of all the times he was so mean to him. All Ayame wanted to do was get along better with him because he wasn't around when he was younger. Yuki shook his head as he thought about how selfish he had been.

Shigure couldn't believe what he had seen. Ayame couldn't die. He was his best friend. Shigure covered his mouth to shut out the small whimper that wanted to escape. He shut his eyes and took deep breaths. He wasn't going to accept this. Ayame couldn't die on him. He wouldn't allow it. Yuki jumped as Shigure suddenly stood and walked back to the hallway.

"Shigure? What are you doing?" Yuki asked following him.

"I'm calling Hatori. He'll know for sure what's wrong with Aaya. Aaya won't die on me. Not now. I won't let him leave me like this." Shigure's voice was harsh and filled with determination fueled by sorrow. Yuki never understood how close those two were until now. Hatori would feel the same way. If Ayame died how would it change Shigure and Hatori? Yuki sat on the ground next to Shigure who had already dialed Hatori's number.

"Only time will tell." He whispered.

How was that? Hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

:The Albino Snake:

Chapter 2

By Animedreamer240 & RinsDarkMagician

Yuki grew restless and irritable, finding himself to be tapping his foot, running his fingers through his messy hair, and biting his tongue hard. A tense silence loomed over the room as they waited to get a hold of Hatori, whom was apparently not answering his phone. Of all the times they needed him, he didn't seem to be here for them this time.

Suddenly, Shigure slammed the phone on the hook. It was loud enough to cause Yuki to jump, but the dog hadn't noticed. He hadn't noticed anything but the worry aching terribly in his chest. His eyes eventually floated to the one sitting beside him. Their eyes met for a brief moment.

"Call him again." the rat said, trying to hide the worry in his voice, but it was evident otherwise. Pressing his back against the bed, he waited just like before, only he was much more doubtful that they were going to reach Hatori. It was the middle of the week and probably one of the busiest days for him as a doctor. That was understandable, Yuki thought.

Shigure intended the slam the phone down again, but this time, it had slipped from his sweaty grasp. The cord it was attached to saved it from hitting the floor. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he leaned over to retrieve it, shifting his weight off the bed some. "I still couldn't get a hold of Hari... So... We'll have to do what we can for Aya until we can reach him..."

He didn't like the sound of that. How could either of them possibly take care of a dying, sick man, if that was his brother's true case? Yuki didn't even know the first thing to cure a common cold. He didn't expect Shigure to know much either. Raising his himself back in a sitting position, Yuki slapped his cheeks with the shaky palms of his hands.

"S-sorry... I think I'm probably taking the albino snake thing too seriously... My brother can't be dying... I mean... Never mind, I don't even know what I'm saying... I don't really know what to think about all this..." he mumbled beneath his breath, taking one last glance at his computer where the albino snake information was still displayed. He motioned over to it and cut the monitor off, for he couldn't stand to look at it anymore.

Shigure had also stood up, scratching some crust from behind his ear and feeling a little disgusted with how dirty he was. "I don't know what to think of it either... Just... Just keep an extra eye out for Aya. We'll make sure he gets better from his... his _cold.._." With that settled, he exited the room, leaving Yuki to worry all alone.

Ayame rolled over in the bed of sweat, tangled covers, feeling hot as hell. Eventually, his eyes had snapped open, and he bothered to push the covers far to the edge of the bed. And when he lay back down, the bed creaked loudly and awakened him fully. He sat up hastily, startled as his eyes roamed the dark bedroom. One thing was for sure, this wasn't _his _room. It took him a moment to register everything that had happened in the past few hours.

A terrible cough emitted from his sore throat as he threw his head forward. His heart pounded hard against his ribcage. And a disgusting liquid of some sort filled his mouth. He swallowed it back down, panicking over the fact that he was nearly about to vomit over Shigure's own bed.

He inched towards the door moments later, wishing to find his friend and perhaps say good-bye and leave. Surely whatever kind of cold he caught would spread through the house like a fast disease, soon to affect anyone who bothered to sit in the same room as he.

The rest of the house was dark as well. What time was it? How many hours had elapsed by exactly? He wasn't sure; his mind hadn't been good at keeping track of the time all week... After heading down the stairs slowly, nearly tripping over the last step, he headed for the kitchen because a small light was turned on inside. Surely someone was there, maybe snacking or raiding the fridge. But not a soul was found there either.

Suddenly, Ayame let out a cough, harder than the last one. His mouth filled with that same taste, so he fetched for some orange juice to help lessen it. But the coughs kept reoccurring, and he was getting fed up with it.

?_ Why... Do I feel so ill...? I knew I was coming down with something since the beginning of the week... Yet... I did not tell Hari... How foolish am I? _He thought quietly as he left the kitchen area and stood dumbfounded in the middle of the living room. Everyone was asleep, and there was no telling where Shigure was currently laying down. Perhaps he could at least find a pen and paper and write down a small note, explaining to the others that he had gone home.

With that brilliantly planned out, he searched the living room quietly until he stumbled across a notepad of paper. He ripped a sheet out and felt around for a pencil. Once he obtained both of those things, he wrote the little note as best he could, his face only inches away from the paper so he could see the letters he was writing.

Another cough shook his body, and his stomach churned terribly. His hand subconsciously crunched the note in his hand, and he coughed into it. But this time, as he coughed, he couldn't stop the next one from coming, and the next, and the next. Stumbling his way though the hallway, his feet carried him fast to a nearby bathroom. The door slammed after him.

Yuki's head shot up at once. The door slam had awakened him and caused his heart to pound faster. Lifting his head some, he took a note that he had fallen asleep in front of his computer. Who would ever think that searching for information for two hours would exhaust him to the point of sleeping? Since the room was dark and he didn't feel like stumbling around to find the light switch, he thought. He'd turn and move the mouse around so the monitor would flash back on. And when it did, his eyes hurt from the light and blinked about a dozen times. Turning on the monitor suddenly felt like a stupid thing to do.

Rising from his chair and motioning to where his bed was, he stopped short at the sound of something pounding against what was probably one of the bathroom walls. Who was using the bathroom at this hour _anyway_? Yuki left his bedroom and wandered into the hall, bumping into someone else and falling back on the floor.

"Ow!" he mumbled, opening his eyes to see just who had run into him so fast. It was nonetheless Shigure, whom he was a little surprised to see. "Shigure..? Err..." He fumbled with his words, still trying to wake up from his uncomfortable rest.

"Yuki... Sorry to bump into you..." he said with worry quite relevant in his tone. "But uh... I heard something coming from the bathroom... And I'm naturally going to check and see if it's Aya."

The thought worried him. Watching as Shigure's hand reached out to him, Yuki took it and balanced back on his feet, a little wobbly at first. "Is he not still sleeping in your room?"

"Eh... I didn't check-"

A gagging sound came from the bathroom next, causing Shigure to stop in mid-sentence. That was definitely Ayame. There was no doubt about it, and they knew that. Without bothering to communicate anything else between each other, they bolted towards the bathroom door, each loaded with concern.

Shigure banged his hand against the door, but not too loudly. "Aya? Are you in there? Are you all right?" he inquired, but he didn't gain any type of response at all. So he banged against the door again, but this time, a little harder. "Aya?"

Yuki's patience wore thin. "Shigure, just open the door."

"What?"

"Open it!"

Growing hesitant, Shigure twisted the cold door knob until it twisted far as it could go, and he pulled the door open just a small crack. "Aya..?" He opened it a little wider to get a better peak. And the scene Shigure and Yuki saw sent them speechless and shocked.

_To be continued..._

Aw, Ayame is obviously not doing too well. Do you think he could really be dying? Will Shigure and Yuki get Hatori soon? And still, what exactly is wrong with Ayame? Well, that ought to be answered in the next few chaps! Thank you for your last reviews! They are very appreciated!

**Please give more good reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry I've taken so long. My friend has been getting on to me about it. Hope you enjoy my chapter.

Shigure and Yuki stared in shock at Ayame. The snake was sitting on his knees in front of the toilet seat with blood dripping from his mouth down to his chin. He looked at the two in the door and shook his head furiously.

"Yuki! Shigu-" Ayame was cut off as he tried to speak. He bent over the toilet and coughed up more blood. Yuki and Shigure finally recovered their senses and ran in to help him. Ayame fell back and was caught by Yuki. He held his brother in his lap and stared at him.

"I'm going to call Hatori. Watch Ayame!" Shigure yelled as he ran out.

Ayame was breathing harder with each passing moment. He leaned his head on Yuki's shoulder. He knew he was scaring his old friend and his brother, but even he didn't know what was wrong with him. He couldn't stop himself from shivering violently. He watched as Yuki began to tear up.

"Please, Yuki, don't cry. I'll be fine. I don't know what's wrong with me, but it can't be too bad." Ayame said in a hoarse whisper.

"Are you kidding?" Yuki shouted. "You're coughing up blood, Ayame!" he reached over and grabbed a handful of tissue and started to wipe Ayame's mouth clean. He watched as Ayame shut his eyes and rested his tired body. Yuki thought about all the times he rejected his brother. How could he have been so cruel? He thought about it deeply. He could push Ayame away if he wanted. All the times Ayame had ignored him and pushed him away….he could do it now. He could walk away.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to kill himself for thinking such thoughts. Still, it shocked him how much he was caring about this. He claimed to have never liked his brother, yet now he was cradling him in his arms and crying for him. He buried his head in Ayame's neck and started to cry harder. He could feel Ayame shiver uncontrollably underneath him. It scared him even more.

"Don't go. Don't leave, Ayame." He whispered. Ayame shook his head and forced a smile.

"I won't."

"Hatori? Hatori!" Shigure yelled into the phone.

Hatori was awoken from his sleep by a dog howling at him. He had been busy all week and this was the first time he had gotten any sleep. Even though Shigure was his good friend he really did not want to be talking to him in the middle of the night.

"What is it, Shigure?" he said.

"Get over here! Ayame needs you! He's really sick, Hatori!" Shigure shouted.

"Stop yelling. You're giving me a headache. Now, what's all this about Ayame being sick? He was fine last time he spoke to me." Hatori crawled back under the covers with the phone lying on the pillow so he wouldn't have to hold it.

"Well, he is now. Listen, Hatori, if we wait any longer Ayame is going to get seriously sick. Well, it's not like he isn't already seriously sick. Yuki is watching over him while I talk to you. You need to get here now!" Shigure told him.

He waited for Hatori's answer but it never came.

"Hatori? Are you there? Hello?"

Hatori had fallen back asleep while Shigure was talking. Every time Shigure said something he made a small movement but nothing to big. Shigure instantly assumed Hatori was asleep.

"HATORI! WAKE UP! AYAME NEEDS YOU!" Shigure screamed.

Hatori sat up right looking around for the noise that woke him. He looked at the phone and remembered he had been talking to Shigure. He grabbed the phone in annoyance and put it to his ear.

"Shigure, what do you want? Ayame isn't sick. And if he is then it's probably just a cold. I'll come by tomorrow and look at him. Maybe." He was about to hang up but then Shigure said something that made him freeze all together.

"He's coughing up blood, Hatori!"

Hatori brought the phone back to his ear and didn't say anything for a while. He shook his head trying to comprehend what Shigure was saying.

"Are you sure?" Hatori said.

"No, I just made it up to annoy you. Of course I'm sure! Get here now, Hatori! Your friend needs you! He may die if we don't do something!"

Die? No…Ayame couldn't die. Hatori dropped the phone and stared into nothingness. His best friend, the one person who cared about him the most….he was dying. Hatori's heart fell. His chest tightened with worry and concern. He grabbed the phone and spoke louder than he meant to.

"I'll be there soon." Then he hung up.

He got up and started to get dressed. "I won't let you die, Ayame. I won't. You'll be ok. I promise." Hatori ignored the small amount of tears coming from his eyes and grabbed his keys. He ran to his car and floored it out of the Sohma estate.

"Wait a little longer, Ayame. I'll be there soon."

Not my best work. I'm really tired. Sorry. Review anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**:The Albino Snake:**

Chapter 4

By RinsDarkMagician & Animedreamer240

Hatori was sure to speed on it; the longer he sat in his car, the more feared for Ayame he became. One thing was for certain. This better not be a joke. Though Hatori had a hard time believing it could be. Shigure wasn't one to joke about something _this _serious, right? Minutes later, his car approached the house, the vehicle's dim lights flashing a few times before turning completely off.

After shutting his car door to a close, taking a second to secure the locks, he bolted towards the house and up the front deck. His mind was now racing so fast that he didn't knock; he just helped himself inside. Right then, his body went through a physical transformation. He looked _much_ calmer than how he really felt. There wasn't even a single bead of sweat on his forehead.

A voice had called out to him almost immediately from the living room. His feet carried him there quickly. When Hatori reached there, he took a notice to Shigure, Yuki, and Tohru standing around the couch. Where Kyo could possibly be wasn't on his mind, so he didn't even begin to wonder. The others backed towards the wall with worried faces as Hatori circled halfway around the couch.

Though he hadn't been prepared to see what he saw. Ayame was laying on the couch, his face more pallid than the moon itself. His eyes were open and dilated, and his hair laid unkempt over his shoulders. There was the slightest trickle of blood down his chin. Hatori's eyes eventually floated down to the floor where Aya's arm hung towards. Many bloody tissues were crowded around the couch. It wasn't a beautiful sight.

Hatori looked at his hands, realizing that he forgot his aid kit in the car. He told everyone that he'd be right back before rushing to get it. Even when he returned, Shigure and the other's backs were still pressed against the wall. No one had moved an inch. How could they? Hatori rested the aid kit down, unbinding his tensed fingers from around it.

"Hari.." Ayame finally choked, seeming as if he just realized he was here. "You didn't..have to come. I'm fine-just a bit of the flu I think."

"It's more than a flu. Your coughing up your blood, and that isn't a good sign." Hatori replied, dabbing a dampened cloth around Aya's chapped lips. They had deep teeth marks on them, so he must have been biting his lips from some kind of pain. "Ayame, tell me, when did you first notice you were falling ill?" he inquired firstly, taking out a mini flashlight from his bag, shining it in Aya's eyes.

The snake sighed. "I don't know." he said honestly. Then there was a long pause. "Surely what I've got will be something you can cure-" Without warning, his upper body sprang up as he began to cough roughly. He didn't have time to get a tissue, so he splattered blood onto his hands instead. This caused other's to gasp in the room.

"Hatori, _please_ say you can cure him. _Please_."

It took Hatori a moment to realize who was talking to him. The nervous voice belonged to Yuki, and he was startled when the rat's shaking figure came up to his side. He was sort of in the way, but not all that much. Hatori made him scoot over a bit.

"I can't with what I brought with me." he said simply. "Ayame must be examined carefully in a hospital." As Hatori said this, he began to unbutton the snake's shirt to get a good look at his chest. He felt around Ayame slowly, and apparently, his skin was turning slightly sallow and wrinkled already. "Yuki, go ahead and put a blanket and a pillow in the back seat of my car. Shigure, you help me carry Ayame."

"I'm-I'm fine! Honest! Doesn't everyone cough up blood once in a while? Maybe I have a slight internal cut?" Ayame pleaded, but even _he _didn't know what he was babbling about, and Hatori knew that. Despite Ayame's struggle, he was much too weak to fight against two strong men.

They carried Ayame out of the house, careful not to trip over their own feet. But Hatori's face frowned deeper when he saw Yuki standing in front of the car, holding the pillow and blanket he told him to prepare in haste advance.

"Yuki, _put _those things in the _car._" Hatori said firmly, his voice quite evident with impatience and firmness.

"I can't-it's locked!"

Now he felt a bit stupid. Hatori never made so many mistakes at once, nor had he ever been this nervous in a while. Making Shigure hold most of Aya's weight, Hatori searched his back pocket for the keys, and he pressed a button on them to disengage all locks. Within seconds, the were zooming to the nearest hospital.

Ayame didn't like his room _at all_. His nose wrinkled at the hospital's scent, and at the awful white gown he was forced to wear. For now, Hatori and a complete stranger- a fellow doctor- hovered over him, sticking him with needles and very cold objects. He winced most of the time. "Hari-this hurts..this hurts-what are you doing?"

"Just calm down. We're examining you to find out just what's wrong so we can cure you faster." Hatori replied, which didn't provide Ayame much comfort at all. Hatori's presence alone was enough to keep him sane though.

Shifting around restlessly, Ayame had been told to stop, but he just couldn't lay still. "There's nothing _that wrong_ with me." he continued on. "I-I stopped coughing blood, see?"

Indeed he had stopped, but that didn't mean he was out of the woods yet. "I see that." Hatori said. "_But._ You're running a fever of 101.2 degrees. I'm surprised you haven't fainted or trans-" He stopped abruptly in mid-sentence. He almost chased their curse out of hiding, and right in front of that other doctor.

Ayame seemed to pout a bit. "All my stomach aches are gone. I feel fine..Okay, maybe I feel a little headache, and maybe I feel very hot.. But I shouldn't have to be kept here."

"You _will _be kept here, and you're not given a chance, I'm sorry. But if find that nothing is severely wrong with you, then we will let you return home, but you would still have to take it easy..perhaps take a week or two off work. But I'm not very confident that you'll be let out so soon."

"You can't give me words of comfort, Hari?"

"Don't worry. Let us handle everything." was all Hatori said. Some help _that_ was.

At last, Yuki was allowed to venture inside Ayame's room and see him. It only took an hour and a half of waiting outside the room, and he stood up most of the time, so the muscles in his legs were aching a bit. But Yuki almost became too hesitant to enter. Was his older brother going to look worse? Was he going to tell him that he was dying? Was he going to die right in front of him? Yuki couldn't predict it, so it drove him to frustration.

He approached Ayame's bedside, his ears filling up with the annoying machine sounds besieging them. His brother's eyes were glued shut, his face was clamored with sweat, and there were two tiny tubs sticking into his wrist. And there was also a small thing on his finger- Yuki always wondered what it was and why all patients had one.

"_Brother.._?" he questioned quietly, lingering there for a moment before taking a seat. He could hear Ayame stir just slightly, but barely. So that meant he was awake and could hear him. "You don't...have to talk if you don't want to. So..how do you feel?"

"Awful." was his immediate reply. "I hate being here, Yuki.. But I promise you everything's all right.. It warms my heart to know you care, though.. That you came to see me.. I wasn't sure if you would."

Yuki shook his head, irritating his slight headache. "No. Of course I would." he began. "Listen.. I-" He paused, realizing that Ayame's eyes closed again, but this time, he really _really _looked asleep. His lips parted slightly, and it was apparent that he was gradually falling into a deep slumber...hopefully a slumber he would awaken from.

For the rest of the time Ayame rested, Yuki never left his side. Maybe he was wrong about this whole dying thing.. Maybe Ayame was going to get better, and everything was going to be all right.. Maybe this would be the beginning and end of his brother's sudden illness..

Or maybe..it was indeed an early sign of death..

_To be continued.._

Hi hi everybody! Hope ya liked this chap! Sorry it took me a while to write it. RinsDarkMagician reminded me repeatedly, and now I just finally got around to doing it! It's very fun writing, and still extremely exciting, so I hope you're looking forward to Rin's next chapter! I'll be back in Chapter 6.

Pray for Aya!

-Animedreamer240


	5. Chapter 5

I really have no idea how I'm going to do this. I want Ayame out of the hospital though. How will that work? I have no idea. Looks like I have to wing it.

Ayame lay in a hospital bed with an irritable expression on his face. He looked over at Hatori and the other doctor talking. They were taking so long! It wasn't necessary to take that much amount of time! He knew that Hatori and the doctor were discussing whether Ayame would be able to leave or not. In one weeks time his fever had gone down significantly and he was no longer coughing up blood or vomiting. In fact he wasn't coughing at all. He still looked pale but Ayame told them that he was naturally pale. It was something that could not be changed.

"What will you do if they let you leave?" Yuki asked his brother. He was sitting next to Ayame while the snake waited for an answer from the doctors. He came to visit him everyday. In that time they had gotten closer. Yuki felt sad that it took his brother nearly dieing to make them get along.

"First, I will get out of this ridiculous white robe. I miss my old clothes. Then, I will return to my shop and go back to making clothes. My clients were being taken care of by my assistant but I am sure they want their clothes made the master himself." Ayame said with a large smile.

"If you're feeling well enough to act so egotistical then they should let you leave." Yuki said. Even though they had managed to get closer, Ayame's large ego and loud voice still annoyed Yuki.

Hatori made his over to the brothers. Ayame looked at him with a pleading face. Yuki sat patiently while Hatori gave them the news.

"Listen, Ayame." He said. "We are going to let you leave, but there are a few rules you need to follow." Hatori tried to recite the rules to him, but Ayame had already grabbed Yuki by the arm and was telling him how happy he was that he was able to leave. He told him more things he would do when he reached the outside world again.

"Ayame, I said listen!" Hatori shouted. Ayame stopped talking and looked at Hatori like a student looked at his teacher.

"This is serious. You need to follow these rules I'm about to give you." Hatori lowered his head and spoke in a soft voice. "If you follow them then you may not have any more accidents. I don't want to see you hurt, Ayame. I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

Hearing this Ayame gave a small smile. It was rare that Hatori was so nice, even to him and Shigure. He leaned against the hospital pillow and spoke. "Don't worry about a thing, Tori. I'll follow your rules. And I'm not going anywhere so you don't have to worry."

Hatori nodded his head and looked at Ayame. "You can't work too hard, Ayame. You need to rest and relax. You won't sleep alone. Either me or Shigure will keep at our house so we can make sure nothing happens to you at night. Eat light foods. Don't try to force down anything that won't go. Right now I want you to stay away from any meats and junk food. Do you understand, Ayame?"

"Yes, yes, Tori, I understand entirely. Now, can I have some clothes and get out of here. I want to see the sun again." Ayame said dramatically.

"Look out the window and you can see the sun." Hatori said through gritted teeth.

Ayame was sitting on Hatori's bed. He had decided to stay with Hatori since he had already burdened Shigure and Yuki. He didn't want to mess up their happy home again. Although, calling it happy seemed like it was extending it a bit. Ayame looked at Hatori, who was fixing the couch into a proper bed. Ayame had said they could share a bed, but Hatori responded that he wasn't Shigure.

"How long am I going to have to stay here, Tori? I don't want to keep you worried for a long time." Ayame said.

Hatori sat on the couch and got under his blankets. "I don't know. Until I see that you can stay on your own without coughing up blood." Hatori responded.

Ayame leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. A smiled slowly formed on his face. He gave a satisfied sigh. "You know, Yuki came to see me everyday while I was in the hospital! I was so happy! I think he finally sees me as an older brother now. If I did die, I could die knowing that Yuki did care about me."

Hatori's eyes grew wide. "Don't say things like that, Ayame. I don't want to hear something like that again." He said sternly.

"You missed the point, Tori! Yuki cares about me! He finally loves me!" Ayame said looking at the dragon.

A small laugh escaped Hatori's lips. "I know. I saw him. I'm glad you two get along better now. But, it's time for sleep, Ayame. You need rest and so do I. Get some sleep."

Ayame nodded and reached over to turn off the lamp. Soon both men fell into a silent sleep. But Ayame's didn't stay silent for long….

It was the middle of the night. Ayame had woken with a start. There was a sharp pain in his stomach. He grabbed it and slowly started to get off the bed. He saw Hatori resting peacefully on the couch. He didn't want to disturb him. He quietly walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He leaned against the wall to steady himself. He walked along the wall to reach the toilet. He leaned over hoping that whatever wanted to come up wouldn't be blood. His wish did not come true.

He felt thick liquid in his mouth, but did his best not to gag. He didn't want to wake his sleeping friend. He opened his mouth and blood poured over his lips to reach his chin and leak onto his pajamas. More kept coming. The pain in his stomach had sharpened, yet at the same time he had barely noticed. He finally began to cough harshly. He regretted not waking up Hatori. He crawled to the door, blood seeping from his mouth which was now falling to the ground. Dizziness swept over him and he now saw two doorknobs instead of just one. Ayame felt something that he was not used to feeling. He felt fear.

"Ha…tori…." He managed to whisper before blackness overtook his vision and the world became nonexistent.

Hatori rolled over in his bed. He opened his eyes slightly. Did he hear something? He was too tired to think on it. In an instant he was back asleep.

How was that? I hope you guys liked it! Review!


	6. Chapter 6

**:Albino Snake:**

Chapter 6

By Rinsdarkmagician and Animedreamer240.

The next time Hatori awakened, the sun's rays were burning his eyes from the window. It was officially morning. He turned over some, perhaps to get more comfortable on the sofa. But overnight, his back had become quite too stiff. At least he slept well though; that was all he really wanted.

He stretched his arms in front of him as he sat up. Then his gaze floated around the living room. From the window the yellowish light slanted across pretty much everything. The room was glowing in cleanliness as usual. Well, only one thing was out of place. There was a green towel on the floor, somewhat close to where Ayame's room was. Hatori knew he didn't put it there, but what reason would it have for being there anyway? One thing was for certain; he hated towels on his carpet. They made the room look tacky.

Motioning towards the towel, he bent over and lifted it slowly. Beneath it, he didn't see much of anything. The floor was very damp there and had been roughened from a towel of some sort. What had Ayame been _doing?_ He dropped the towel back in place and took one more step to Aya's room. He knocked against the door lightly.

"Ayame?" he said gently into the door. He heard a bit of stirring immediately. There were a few creaks here and there from the bed, so either Ayame was sleeping or laying awake. Once the door opened, Hatori took a few steps back, staring hard into the other man's extremely tired eyes. "You didn't sleep." he stated flatly.

Ayame smiled somewhat. "No… Not really…."

There was a small silence. The birds had started pecking annoyingly at the windows.

"Are you feeling all right?" he inquired secondly. "Why did you put a towel over there?" He looked back at it so that he could reconfirm its existence. "Did you spill a drink earlier? It's quite all right if you did. The carpet looks fairly clean, though a bit worn down in that spot now."

His head bobbed up and down. "Yes, I spilled something.. I tried to carry a cup of _water_ to my room in the dark, but that wasn't so successful… And don't worry, I'm just fine… I couldn't really sleep during the night because…well...I was thinking about Yuki and all… But now I'm going to sleep."

Ayame didn't give Hatori any time to reply. The door was closed in his face.

Hours passed and Ayame hadn't emerged from that room. Naturally, this caused Hatori to worry. And this worry was distracting him from his paper work. It was currently an hour past noon.

The poor snake had been cleaning up his blood all night. He had to clean it just perfect as if he hadn't vomited over anything. That was a hard task to do, considering how disoriented and dizzy he was. The feeling did eventually subside, and so did the vomiting. Really, it was the scariest thing in the world to Ayame. So scary now, that he decided he _didn't_ want Hari knowing. He wasn't ready to face any possible facts about him _dying._

It was approaching 2pm, and Ayame was getting severely hungry. In truth, he was afraid to eat anything. He was afraid at what his stomach would do. What if eating would simply irritate it? And since Ayame didn't know much about the body, he wondered if the food would brush against some kind of tear in his organs or something. And that tear would quickly lead to throwing up blood. Ayame thought up of everything, ridiculous to sensible.

Ayame came out into the living room at last, and Hatori peaked his head up at once.

"Ayame." he greeted, taking a stand as to acknowledge him more politely. "Are you doing all right? Did you sleep all of that time?"

"Oh yes, I got plenty of rest!" he lied.

He smiled a bit. "Are you sure? You're feeling all right?"

"Oh, for the last time, yes!" he somewhat snapped. It wasn't in his intention to snap, but he had done it anyway. "Sorry... I'm going to take my shower now if you don't mind…."

"By all means, take it. I'll get the towels for you."

The shower helped Ayame plenty. He felt extremely refreshed, and even more so when he exited the steamy bathroom into the cooler living room. "Ahhh, that felt wonder..ful." Wait a moment. He was smelling food. He came 'round to the kitchen, and he was surprised to see Hari cooking.

"Sit down, we're about to eat a late lunch." Hari somewhat demanded.

Ayame gave him a slight pouty look. "Oh, but I'm not all that hungry-"

"Sit."

There was no way that he could disobey to that firm voice. He frowned as he took a seat at the table and placed his hands upon it. "You don't have to go through the trouble in making me something, Hari."

He said nothing, and just moments later, he placed two steaming bowls of a gray, grainy, gooey substance on the table. "It's called cream of wheat, and it's very healthy."

Ayame wrinkled his nose at it.

"It's also very hot as you can tell, so you should wait until it cools off." Then, an unexpected noise startled them to death. It was the loud ringer of Hatori's phone. "Excuse me for a moment." And just like that, Hatori was gone.

All right, this was perfect. Ayame grabbed a paper cup and started to fill it up with the disgusting stuff. Until half of it was gone, he stuffed his napkin into the cup and dropped it in the trash. Quickly afterwards, he sat back in his seat, pouring a bit of the cream of wheat into his mouth to make it look like he was eating.

Perhaps about six to seven minutes later, Hatori returned.

The doctor arched an eyebrow at him. "You ate..fast."

"OH it was so delicious that I couldn't help myself!" he replied, though quickly covering his mouth because he was practically talking with his mouth full. "Uh-one minute! Bathroom!" He left the kitchen quickly after that...only to transfer the stuff in his mouth to the toilet.

When Aya returned, Hatori was still eating his lunch. Well, it was a breakfast food, really. ".Well, I think I might want to run some errands." he said randomly.

"Errands? I should accompany you-"

"No no, I just need to buy some personal things. You know, like my favorite soap. I'll be right back, there's no need to follow me around the store, Hari."

Hesitant to let him off so easy, Hatori nodded and watched Ayame zoom out the door.

"...For upset stomachs, always take your medicine as prescribed and discuss any further concerns with your doctor…." Ayame read aloud, sitting at the library's computer in the back. "This is no good, I can't find the right medicine I need. I bet Hari has some, but he would notice even a pill missing…." Sighing in defeat, he threw his head back and crossed his arms. Coming to the library to research medicine was a waste of time because he had no idea how to research. His patience wasn't strong enough to withstand more than five minutes of Internet time.

At least the library was quiet and relaxing. He rested his eyes looked to be asleep.

"_Aya!"_

He sprang up frantically, his hand fumbling for the mouse to click out of what he was looking at. Then he looked over his shoulder to see Momiji of all people, staring wide eyed and curious at him. "Oh, you gave me a scare.. Why are you here?"

"I've got a project to research!" he chirped. "Say Aya, how are you feeling? I was going to come see you but I wanted to get my project out of the way first."

"Oh, I'm feeling wonderful. Couldn't be better! Well, it could if I could only return to my own home, but I'll have to let Hatori watch over me for a while.. It's not like I have much of a choice, anyway."

Momiji nodded, his face slowly turning serious. He perked it up once he realized it was.

"Well.." Ayame spoke, getting up from the chair. "I better be off to the grocery store.. To buy a few personal things.. Good luck on your project, and I'll see you later, okay? Do visit me soon."

They both exchanged fake smiles, and Ayame had taken his leave quickly.

"Hmm.. Aspirin.. No.." Once again, Ayame was back to the drawing board. It was more difficult than he realized to get the medicine. He paced by all the isles the drug store, picking up some soap but that was it. Ayame figured a drug store would have medicine rather than a grocery store, so he changed his mind. Wandering back to the pill capsules on the shelves, he picked random ones and read the descriptions on the back of them.

He ended up picking Aspirin. And he hadn't a clue if it was going to work or not. The medicine department wasn't his thing at all. Thankfully, he had left the store without bumping into another Sohma.

The day improved after that. Hatori was being pretty nice, surprisingly, and played a few board games with Ayame. Then they'd get down to serious talking about the world today and whatever was on the news. Plus, Ayame never felt sick, thanks to the Aspirin, he thought. And occasionally, phone calls came from Yuki, but most of them were for Hatori.

However, when it crept closer to nighttime, things started to get worse again. Ayame felt sort of dizzy, and he didn't get up to walk around at all. He remained a vegetable on the sofa with the tv blaring. Eventually, Hatori turned off the tv. He then took a seat next to Aya.

"Ayame.." he said slowly. "I've been avoiding a certain topic with you today.. And now I think it's best I bring it up.."

Ayame didn't look interested. "Oh, but Hari, I'm feeling _tired_.. Can't it wait?"

"No." he said calmly. "I don't think it can. Aya, tell me how you're really feeling."

"Not this question again.. Can't you see I'm all right?"

"You look like you're light-headed."

The snake rolled his eyes. "You really do notice the smallest things, don't you?"

Without a moment to waste, Hatori said, "My suspicions started with the towel on the floor, Ayame. The spot where you dropped the water...well the carpet is awfully darker, even as its dried. I'm to assume water wasn't spilled there because water wouldn't discolor a carpet like that for so long."

Ayame glared at him. "Maybe it was orange juice! I was tired so I can't really remember..."

"One extra roll of my paper towels is gone." he added. "I know you're not eating. You couldn't hide what you did earlier today. Momiji called and told me you were researching medicine for upset stomachs...at the _library_."

_How did he know it!_ Ayame thought he closed out the website fast enough.

"Kagura spotted you at the drug store, looking at the medicines.."

So there _was_ another Sohma there...

"Ayame, I have every reason to believe you're not as well as you say you are. Right now, I want you to tell me how you're _really_ feeling, and then I want you to explain your actions today. So start." he said firmly.

Ayame slumped back in the sofa, his heart racing because he didn't want to tell Hatori anything.. He thought he had done so _well_ in hiding everything, but Hatori had a sharper eye than he thought. Now what was going to happen?


	7. Chapter 7

Well, this is Rinsdarkmagician again. It's my turn to write the chapter. Animedreamer did a good job last time. Let's see how well I do.

"Are you actually feeling ok, Ayame?" Hatori asked.

Ayame had been trying to avoid that subject all day. Some of the members of the Sohma family had caught him looking at medicines. They had obviously reported back to Hatori. Now Ayame had to come clean. He had to tell about how he was feeling dizzy, how he didn't want to eat, and how he was starting to cough up blood.

"Hatori….I…." Ayame stopped abruptly as someone knocked on the door.

"Oh! Someone is at the door, Tori! I'll go answer it for you!" Ayame jumped up and ran towards the door. Hatori shook his head. Who ever it was had picked the worst time possible to come. He heard the door open.

"Who is it, Ayame?" he called from the couch.

Ayame ran back and leaned over the couch to look at Hatori. "Why, it's my dear brother Yuki! He has come to visit me in my time of need. Isn't he just a wonderful brother!" Ayame ran back to greet his brother more properly.

"It's Yuki?" Hatori said to himself. He thought for a moment then smiled. Perhaps this was better than he thought. Anything that Ayame wouldn't tell Hatori, he would tell Yuki. He could get Yuki to make Ayame tell him everything then he could report what the snake had told him back to Hatori. It was perfect! Hatori stood and made his way to the door.

"Hello, Yuki." He said.

Yuki turned away from his brother to speak to Hatori. "Hi, Hatori. Listen, I just want to thank you for taking care of my brother. He's looks much better since the last time I saw him."

"Anytime…Yuki, I have something I want to show you. Would you mind coming with me?" Hatori said, putting an arm around Yuki.

"Oh, sure…." Yuki said.

"Can I come too?" Ayame asked already following them. Hatori knew that if Ayame followed them then he would never get to talk to Yuki alone. He thought of a quick excuse in order to loose his friend.

"You don't want to come with us." He said. "Yuki is doing a report on snakes and I have some medicine that uses snake poison. I thought that might be able to help him a bit. It's nothing interesting, Ayame. Why don't you make us drinks? It will only take a moment."

Ayame's eyes grew wide. Hatori didn't think he would be interested. Apparently, he was wrong.

"Snakes?" Ayame said. "Does this poison happen to come from my snake?" Ayame smiled proudly.

"I doubt you're poisonous, Ayame." Hatori said rolling his eyes. "Please, Ayame, it will only take a moment. Just get the drinks ready and we'll come out when we're done." He said a bit more forcefully.

An annoyed look found its way onto Ayame's face. He accepted defeat though and walked into the kitchen while Hatori dragged Yuki to his office.

"How did you know I was doing a report on snakes?" Yuki asked along the way.

"Shigure told me." Hatori opened the door to his office and stepped inside. He fumbled for a light in the darkness. He finally found it and the room was flooded with brightness. They squinted but eventually their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"I don't think you really called me in here to look at medicine." Yuki told him.

Hatori took a seat in his chair and looked at Yuki. "Ayame isn't telling the truth about how he's feeling, Yuki. He told me he was fine today but Momiji and Kagura say otherwise."

A confused look crossed Yuki's face. "Momiji and Kagura? What do they have to do with anything?" he asked.

Hatori explained how Kagura and Momiji had caught Ayame looking at medicines. It wasn't a coincidence that he was looking at medicines at this time. Something was wrong with him.

"I want you to ask Ayame what is wrong with him. Then I want you to tell me. He won't say a word to me about it! He'll talk to you though. Ask him what's been going on with him. Get as much as you can out of him."

"He looked fine out there…." Yuki said.

"It's an act. Talk to him, please." Hatori pleaded.

Yuki nodded his head. He wondered if he should let Hatori know about the fact that Ayame is an albino snake. Perhaps Shigure already brought that to his attention. No one knew what was wrong with Ayame. If the logical doesn't work, then try the illogical.

"Hatori, did Shigure tell you about the snake I found online?" Yuki began.

Hatori stood. "No offense, but I'm not really interested in your project right now. I have bigger things to worry about."

"No, listen, I found this snake online called the albino snake. It doesn't live very long because being albino is a deformity that can kill it. I don't want it to be true but do you think that Ayame could be an albino snake?" Yuki said.

Hatori thought about it for a while. It never occurred to him that the zodiacs had species. Perhaps this could be the reason for Ayame's unexplainable illness.

"I won't ignore that. I'll do some research on the albino snake and see what I can find. But we need to get back to Ayame. He'll get impatient with us." Hatori said.

Yuki and Hatori walked back to Ayame. He was sitting at the table in the living room with tea for everyone.

"Did the poisonous medicine help any?" he asked.

"It did. I'll use it for my report." Yuki said.

"Great! Now, tell what you have been up to Yuki!" Ayame said excitedly.

Yuki and Ayame talked like they hadn't seen each other in years. Hatori knew that Yuki needed to be alone with Ayame so they could talk about the important thing. Hatori stood up and stretched.

"I'm getting a bit sleepy. I think I want to go to sleep. There is one problem though. You two are sitting on my bed." Hatori said with a smile.

"Oh, we're sorry." Yuki said with a laugh. "Well, I'll leave so you two can get your rest. Ayame, will you walk me to the door?" he asked.

Ayame was already standing up. "Let's go."

Hatori watched them leave. For some reason Yuki took Ayame into the hall with him and shut the door. Hatori knew why.

"Don't fail me, Yuki." He whispered.

How was that? Let me know!


	8. Chapter 8

Albino Snake

Chap 8

By Ren and Anime!

-

While they just reached the front porch, Yuki squatted down on the big steps. It was evident he wasn't about to leave, and now he looked as if there was something heavy on his mind, something bothersome. His eyes floated up to his older brother, somewhat inviting him to sit down with him, and he did.

Ayame didn't hesitate to ask what was wrong with his brother, and why he suddenly looked so serious. "Yuki, is everything really all right? Are things at home okay? Or are you just very worried about me? Don't worry! Hari really _is_ taking wonderful care of me. At this rate, I'll be able to return to my own home, don't you think?"

Yuki sighed, knowing that what he had to say from here on out had to suck the truth out of Ayame. He couldn't begin to wonder what was wrong with him this time, and he'd certainly worry more if he did know. But Hari asked him to do this, and he should do it anyway because what kind of brother would he be if he didn't? "Brother, the truth is.. I can't stop worrying. As your brother, I can sense something is wrong." That was a lie. Ayame could fake it all day and he wouldn't be able to tell. "Will you tell me what's wrong?"

As expected, Ayame denied that anything was wrong. "Oh come now, take a look at me, Yuki. My face is full of color, I can move quickly, and if you look really closely, you'll see that I've gained a few pounds." No, if you looked closely, you could tell that he lost some.

"Please don't lie to me.." Upon hearing Yuki say that, Ayame fell silent. "Please.. I told you, I can sense that something is wrong. Shouldn't brothers tell each other everything? Or are we going to return to be strangers towards each other? Is that what you want?"

"Of course that isn't what I want! I want us to get so much closer, Yuki.. I want us to be closer than ever before. I love talking to you so much… I love it when you visit me, when your face is full of concern for me. I'm not saying I always want you to look concerned... But I've already got what I wanted, and that was for you to care about me. So you don't have to look concerned all the time to show me… I already know…."

All of Aya's words flew in one ear and exited the other. To Yuki, it was babbling now, soon to lead them off the real matter. His teeth pinched his bottom lip. "Brother, I won't leave until you tell me what's wrong with you. If you won't tell me at all, then I'll have to find out the hard way." Meaning, keeping track of where Aya went, how long he spent in the bathroom, if he slept at night, how much he ate, and that would not only drive Yuki insane, but Ayame as well.

Both of their noses pointed towards the afternoon sky, where the clouds were turning pinker and prettier. They never had moments like this, moments to watch a sunset, just the two of them.

"I'll admit…." Aya started. "I'll admit... Sometimes while I'm here, I won't feel my best. I'll have a headache one minute and a stomach ache the next. But that's nothing a few pills can't cure. They're simple pains really."

"But Brother, what is so wrong that you have hide these simple pains from Hatori?" Yuki might have blown some of his cover, he wasn't sure. He wasn't good at this sort of thing anyway. "I heard from Ha- uh- from Kagura and Momiji that you were looking up medicines on your own. And today, when Hatori went to talk to me about snake poisoning, I later asked him why you had to find medicine all on your own and if that was okay, but he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. So I gather you haven't been telling Hatori that you go out looking for medicine. Are they really such simple pains as you say? Hatori has pills for headaches and stomachaches already. So I take it that you're going out of your way to find medicine for other pains, much more serious pains, and you're hiding all of this from all of us." Quite a lot of talk spilling out of Yuki all of the sudden. Ayame probably wouldn't be able to detect that some of the events Yuki explained weren't all part of the true story, but they were close enough.

Ayame's hands started to shake on his lap, and there wasn't a sound coming from him for a long time. He looked afraid, oh so frightened, and he couldn't look anywhere but at the steps.

"Brother?" Yuki questioned, paying a high notice to his shaking. He scooted closer to his older brother, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry if I upset you somehow… I think you're scared to tell me what's wrong... But it's okay now, Brother… You can tell me a_nything..._ You really _can…._"

Yuki expected Ayame to come clean with him. He anticipated everything from this point, from Aya's confession to spilling everything to Hatori later on the phone. But Ayame's next choice of action wasn't confessing.

"Don't touch me, Yuki!" Ayame snapped out of the blue, brushing his hand aside and quickly getting on his feet. This surprised his younger brother, making his eyes widen in shock. "Don't follow me, just leave me alone.. Y-you don't know what you're saying..! You couldn't possibly understand me, so don't try to." And with that being said, Ayame swung the door open and disappeared inside.

Yuki blinked, unsure if he should feel hurt or more concerned, indecisive if he should follow or obey Ayame. At least one thing was evident and had to be true, and that was…something was incredibly wrong with Ayame. And it wasn't going to be easy to figure him out. He wouldn't say he failed Hari's mission, exactly. This was only the first and hardest step. In the next moment, Yuki turned away from the house and began to walk away.

_To be continued..._

Oh no, Ayame's starting to snap at Yuki! Do you think he might choose to take a colder path in personality, to avoid help? Let's hope he doesn't do anything later that he will regret. Let's hope..Hari and Yuki will be able to help Ayame before it's too late. What do you think? Do you think Ayame is truly an albino snake..? See you in the next chap!


	9. Chapter 9

Ok. It's been too long. I think i should write something. Don't expect this chapter to be something special. But do know that the story is coming to a close.

Ayame sat in his bed with Hatori next to him. He was taking his temperature. Hopefully it wouldn't be too high and Ayame could go home. He loved spending time with Hatori but things were just to stressful lately. And just yesterday he had talked to Yuki in that awful way. It wasn't Yuki's fault he was sick. The little rat had only been trying to help him and see if he was ok. At the current moment Ayame was feeling drained physically and mentally. He was so tried and sleepy. He wanted Hatori to just go away and let him rest.

"You're temperature is too high, Ayame. You're going to stay here for a few more days." Hatori announced.

Ayame was too tired to care. It didn't matter. Even if he did go home he would just get bombarded with phone calls and visits. Besides if he stayed here and something really bad happened to him then Hatori would be right there to take care of him. Ayame nodded at his friend and turned over in the bed. He pulled the sheets around him and buried his face in the pillow.

"Are you tired?" Hatori asked.

"I am. I think I want to sleep for a little while." He said in a low voice.

"Ok then. I'll come back to check on you in a little while." Hatori said. Then he left with a light click from the door shuting. Ayame moved around in bed and whimpered. He felt like hell. Literally. He was burning up. He pushed away the covers but then pulled them back around him. What was wrong with him? Was he really dying? The thought filled him with fear. Perhaps death was just around the corner for him. But why him? There was so much he hadn't done. He was too young to die. And even though things had been bad, things had also started to look up. Yuki had finally accepted him as his older brother. He had finally loved him! Ayame couldn't leave without making up for the wasted years. Without showing Yuki how much he really cared. How much he really loved him. Ayame calmed himself and pulled the blanket up to his waist. Meet halfway...he shut his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Hatori roamed around his house for a while before going to his office. His worry over his friend was killing him. He didn't seem to be improving at all. Maybe he should go back to the hospital. Hatori knew Ayame hated it but if things continued like they were going he would have no choice. Hatori picked up the phone and dialed Shigure's number. He was relieved when Yuki picked up the phone.

"Yuki? It's Hatori."

"Oh! Hatori. Hello. How are you? Is Ayame any better?" Yuki asked.

A sigh was the reply. "I'm stressed and Ayame isn't doing any better. Did he tell you anything yesterday?" Hatori asked.

"No. In fact he just snapped at me and told me to leave him alone. There's something really wrong with him, Hatori. I can't help but worry. Tell me he's going to be ok." Yuki pleaded.

Hearing Yuki say that made Hatori want to cry. What was he supposed to say? Ayame wasn't doing any better at all. He was getting worse by the minute. Even so, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. And here was Yuki, the poor younger brother, worrying his heart out. Ayame felt guilty for making everyone worry and Hatori was upset that he couldn't do anything about it! He told Yuki the only thing that came to mind.

"He'll be fine, Yuki. His temperature will start to decrease, all his pains will go away, he'll stop coughing up blood, and soon he'll be able to go out and walk on his own. He'll be there to see you graduate, he'll be there to see you get a job. He'll go back to his shop and make dresses and other garments for people and all the while he'll have that huge smile on his face."

"You're lying." Yuki said.

Tears filled in Hatori's eyes. "I know. But I don't want to think about the truth, Yuki. It's too hard."

"Keep telling yourself what you told me." Yuki whispered.

"I will." Hatori said. Then he hung up. He took a deep, shuddering breath and wiped his eyes. He got up and walked back to the room Ayame was staying in. He opened the door slowly and watched Ayame. He was squirming around in bed and whimpering. Hatori noticed that he was clutching his stomach but he appeared to still be asleep.

"Please sleep." Hatori whispered. "Then you won't feel the pain." Hatori closed the door then retreated back to his office. "Maybe God will show you mercy...by letting you die..."

How was that? Review!


	10. Chapter 10

The story is coming to a close. I will decide when I'm done writing this chapter if this is the last chapter.

"The albino snake..." Hatori said. Yuki's idea didn't seem entirely far-fetched. Maybe he was an albino snake. Hatori logged onto the internet and looked up albino snake. He read a little. Then he gave a heavy sigh. It was a good idea. He picked up the phone and called Yuki. When he answered the phone he told him what he found.

"Yuki...Ayame isn't an albino snake. His sickness is his own." Hatori said.

"What? He's not? How?" Yuki asked.

Hatori looked back at the screen. "He is white like an albino snake but albino's have one distinct part of their appearance. Ayame doesn't have red eyes."

Yuki nearly fell down. He reached for a chair and pulled it under him. "Red eyes? Oh no. That means he's really sick..." he said.

"I'm sorry, Yuki." Hatori said.

"What's the matter with him, Hatori?" he said, his voice cracking. "I can't take much more of this. And Shigure is depressed too and he never gets depressed! Hatori..."

"Calm down, Yuki. I'm trying. I'm trying to figure this out." Hatori felt tears fall out his eyes. What could be wrong with Ayame?

"I'm going to sleep. Call me with an update." Yuki said. Then he hung up the phone. Hatori couldn't blame him. He was just as upset as he was. But nothing could be done.

"AAAHHHH!"

Hatori looked up as he heard a scream. It was Ayame. He ran from his office to the room Ayame was staying in. He slammed the door open and saw Ayame clutching at his face and running around. Hatori ran to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "What's wrong? What's happening?" he asked quickly.

Ayame tried to get out of Hatori's grasp but couldn't. "My face! My face is on fire! It's burning, Hatori! It's on fire!" He screamed again. Hatori tried to gather Ayame in his arms but he got away. He ran into the living and looked around frantically. He spotted a mirror. He began to run towards it. Hatori saw him. "Ayame, no!" he screamed.

"It hurts so much!" Ayame yelled. Then he slammed his face in the mirror. The mirror shattered and Ayame fell to the floor.

"Ayame!" Hatori yelled. He ran to his friend. His face was covered with blood and scratches. But he looked peaceful. Hatori fell to his knees and gathered Ayame in his arms. "No...no, Ayame." His old friend...the one person who loved him and everything about him. The one person Hatori could confide in, the big brother to a scared child who thought he was alone...Ayame.

Hatori sat on the ground for what felt like hours, calling his friend's name and crying. This couldn't be happening. Hatori's heart ached. This was worse than when Kana left him. He felt like he was going to die. He wanted to die. He didn't want to tell Shigure and Yuki what happened. But then a thought crossed his mind. What caused this?

Yea, I'll make one more chapter. It'll explain everything. And to those who didn't want Aaya to die...sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

Anyone ever read Godchild? Last chapter. Enjoy...

Shigure leaned his head on Hatori's chest. The dragon rubbed his hair. It was just after the funeral of their best friend. It was harder than they thought it would be. Seeing him lying in the casket was a shocker to both of them. And Yuki...he couldn't help himself from just crying his eyes out. He finally loved his brother and then he dies on him. They were now sitting in Shigure's home. Everyone was still in their funeral clothes. But the men had taken off the ties and lossened their shirts. Yuki had locked himself in his room. Kyo and Tohru were trying to get him out. Or get him to let them in. Shigure and Hatori were sitting on the sofa letting their silent sobs tell each other how they felt. Shigure rubbed his face deeper into Hatori's chest. The dragon didn't know what to do. He was never good at healing broken hearts.

"This can't be happening." Shigure whispered.

Hatori continued to rub his friend's hair. "I wish it wasn't. I want Ayame back too." he said through his tears.

The telephone rang. The two on the couch ignored it. It stopped ringing though. Someone must have picked it up. Kyo came downstairs a few minutes later. "It was Haru. Hatori, he said Akito wants to see you."

Shigure looked at Hatori. He didn't want him to leave. And he knew Hatori didn't want to go either. But Akito was Akito. Disobeying him was not an option. Shigure lifted himself off his friend. Hatori slowly stood and made his way to the door. Shigure followed. Hatori faced Shigure when he made it to the door. He cupped the dog's face in his hands and pushed their foreheads together. He forced a small smile.

"Go try to comfort Yuki. Take care of each other. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." Hatori whispered.

Shigure nodded and gave a small smile. Then Hatori left.

He made to the Sohma Estate. He wanted to be in and out. He knew Akito wanted to talk about Ayame. It would be hard but he would humor Akito and stay. Then he would go back to Shigure and Yuki, who needed him more than Akito did. He walked into Akito's room and sat on his knees before him.

"Are you upset about Ayame?" Akito asked.

"I am. And so are Shigure and Yuki. It was so unexpected." Hatori said.

"He smashed his face in the mirror." Akito laughed. "That's so funny." Hatori had to keep himself from screaming out. It wasn't funny. That was his friend...his best friend. It was not funny at all.

Akito walked over to Hatori and sat in front of him. "I never liked him. But I disliked him even more when he took my favorite people away."

"Favorite people?" Hatori asked.

"You, Shigure, Yuki...he kept all of you. If you guys weren't with me, you were with him." Akito said.

"That's not true. Yuki only recently started to be with Ayame. And Shigure and I...well with grew up with Ayame. Of course we would spend time with him." Hatori said.

Akito shook his head. "You were always with him. Because of how much he cared about you, you were always with him. And he and Shigure were always together. They were inseperable. I had to get rid of him to get my playtoys back."

Hatori's eyes grew wide. "What? What are you..."

"Poison. A special poison. It contains parasites that cause internal bleeding, dizzyness from eating at the brain, extreme pain...and then when they are done inside the body they form at the face area...sometimes behind the eyes...and try to get out of the body. They press and eat at the skin until they can make their way out which causes excrutiating pain for the unfortunate person who has these parasites in his body. It's very possible that that person would kill himself from the amount of pain the parasites are delivering to him. A very effective poison. I was happy to use it on that snake."

Hatori listened to Akito's words. He killed his friend. It was him. Just so he could torture him, Shigure, and Yuki some more. Hatori glared at Akito. "I'll tell everyone. I'll have them perform an autopsy and they'll find the parasites. I'll tell them it was you!"

Akito laughed and walked to his place next to the window. "No one will believe you. Know why? Because once the parasites hit oxygen they die. They were probably able to make it out of the snake's body when he got those cuts from the mirror. There will be no trace that anything was there. Sorry, Hatori. You lose...again."

Hatori was finding it harder to breath. He felt tears swell at the corners of his eyes and fall to the ground. Akito laughed when he saw this. "Perhaps you can erase your own memory." Hatori got up and ran out of the house. It was Akito. It was Akito...Hatori fell to his knees outside.

"I'm sorry I couldn't see it, Ayame. Please...forgive me."

Hatori looked up and blinked twice. Someone was in front of him. A shiny someone. He wiped his eyes and gasped out loud. Ayame!

"Ayame..." Hatori said. The angelic Ayame made his way to Hatori and looked at him with warm smile. He rubbed his cheek and spoke. "There's nothing to forgive. I love you and Shigure and Yuki." He began to walk away. Hatori was too stunned to say anything. Ayame looked back and blew his old friend a kiss. Then he was gone.

How was that? Like it? Let me know.


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